Episode 1: Through the Rift
by HumanTales
Summary: What do you do if your life is intolerable, you're near a rift in space and time, and you're a technological genius?


**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Russell T. Davies and the BBC. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Spoilers:** Through Children of Earth Day Five and relationship spoiler from DW The End of Time Part 2.

**Author's Notes:** This is the first episode in my own version of Torchwood Season 4, but it should stand alone.

**Episode 1 - Through the Rift**

It was nothing less than foolish, Ianto knew, but even a foolish chance was better than nothing. Something had to give, and the thought that it might be Tosh paying the price made his gut churn. Judging from the hard set of Owen's jaw, he felt the same way.

Ianto had been the one to fake the rift event that had brought them out here. Close enough to the Hub to walk, but far enough that Harkness wouldn't want to tag along. Especially with the way he was coddling Cooper.

Owen had demanded that Ianto come along, "because if it's something big and heavy, I will need help carrying it. Unless you want to come along?" Unsurprisingly, Harkness had sighed and allowed Ianto to join the other two. It would almost have been worth it just to be outside without something to haul or clean up.

Most of it was on Tosh's shoulders. She was the one who'd found, and understood, the theory in the first place. She was the one who'd built the device and she was the one who'd managed to arrange the little bit of testing they'd been able to do. She was frowning at her PDA, but it looked more like concentration than any doubt that this would work.

"All right, you two," she said, "here we go." She punched three last keys into the PDA and stepped through the hole she'd just opened in the empty space before them. Glancing over at Owen, Ianto followed.

It was pure chaos. There was no telling up from down, where the others were, nothing. It was horrible; Ianto felt dizzy and nauseous, scared and very alone. It didn't last very long, and then they were spat out some feet in the air. He grabbed Tosh so she would land on top of him, but that left him no control over how he landed. He landed flat on his back, and the first thing he did was smack his head onto the sidewalk. Hard.

He came to with Owen peeling up his eyelid to check his pupils. "'m awake, Owen," Ianto said, concentrating very hard on not slurring. "How's Tosh?"

"I'm fine," her voice came from above him, "but we have to get some weight on you. I felt like I was landing on bones."

"You were," Owen said, finishing his exam. "Might be a concussion; we'll keep an eye on you." He took a deep breath and turned to his wife. "Did it work?"

"I can't be sure." Tosh was scowling at the PDA. "We were looking for a universe very similar to ours, so I can't tell."

Sitting up very carefully, Ianto looked up at her. "So, how do we tell?"

"We go back to the Hub," Owen said firmly. "If it didn't work, we're no worse off. Plenty of rift alerts come to nothing. If it did, we shouldn't be able to get in, right?"

"Right," Tosh said, still scowling. "The parameters were that we don't exist here. Or there." She shook her head. "Whatever. So, if it's not our world, our passes shouldn't work. How are you, Ianto?" she said, giving him a careful look.

"A bit of a headache, but nothing too bad," Ianto said. "Shall we go?"

The walk back was subdued. Everything looked exactly the same; if they were in a parallel universe, it was very close to home. Not too close, Ianto hoped.

Turning to walk down to the Tourist Office, all three of them froze. Where the Hub had been was now a crater. Whatever had happened had been some time ago; there was not only police tape and barriers, but the signs of beginning construction. The three of them stood there for several minutes before Ianto whooped in joy and turned to hug his friends.

"We did it!" shouted Owen. "We did it! We did it!"

Their cash, fortunately, passed the muster of the hotel clerk. Even though it was only nine o'clock, Ianto wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. Owen made him endure another, more thorough, exam before he allowed it. "You should be all right, but I'll be waking you up through the night to check on you."

"I thought that was an old wives' tale," Ianto grumbled as he made up the couch.

"Who's the doctor?" Owen asked, but patted Ianto's shoulder as he settled in. As he dozed off, he watched Tosh set up her laptop to try hacking into the local databases for information.

He was woken, not by Owen checking on him, but by a pounding on the door. Ianto flailed a bit trying to wake up and get up while Owen checked the door. He shook his head. "One looks familiar, but I've never seen the other. Bluff it through?"

"We've done nothing wrong," Tosh said primly as she stowed the laptop under the desk. "Check their IDs."

They didn't give Owen the chance. As soon as he'd opened the door a crack, they shoved it open, knocking him over. Ianto went over to check him out. After he made sure Owen was okay, which he was except for some dented pride, he glanced up at the intruders. "Johnny?" he heard himself say. With a gun? Who'd give Johnny a gun?

Johnny looked down and his eyes widened. "Bloody hell! How'd you do that?"

Owen and Tosh both looked at Ianto in shock, while Ianto stared at his brother-in-law. "Erm, not really dead?" he tried. It had always amazed him that he'd not run into anyone who knew him after Jack had had him declared dead. Then again, he was rarely out of the Hub and never unsupervised.

"But you were!" Johnny said, almost wailing. "I saw your . . . I saw you! Rhi couldn't, so I went to be official. They wouldn't take Gwen's word. How are you here?"

"It's probably a shape shifter," his companion said, sounding rather stunned himself. "All right, all three of you, you're coming with us. Er, Johnny, keep an eye on them, yeah?"

Since all three of them were dressed, they only had to shove their feet into their shoes. After a quick frisk for weapons, which none of them had had on right then, Johnny and the other man moved them out of the hotel. When the security guard tried to stop them, the other man held up a badge and snapped, "Torchwood". There were no more attempts to stop them.

Outside, they were shoved into a plain black SUV. "Johnny, you drive," the other man said. Johnny just nodded. He was still giving Ianto wide-eyed looks. Afraid of what was coming, and not wanting to Rhiannon into trouble, Ianto didn't say anything, but his stomach was twisting in knots. Owen and Tosh were both quiet as well. The actions of the two local Torchwood operatives had been quick and thorough, but there had been no anger or brutality, just efficiency. No one wanted to change that.

The unknown operative gave a status report over his comm unit and then waited for instructions. They didn't seem to be anything surprising; he just told Johnny, "Headquarters". Instead of the Hub, which really wasn't much of a surprise, they pulled up to a warehouse in the midst of a number of them. Ianto found himself approving of the disguise, much less obvious than the old location, and easier to explain people moving in and out at all hours. As they approached it, a door opened and the SUV drove through it. Once it was through, the door shut again, with an ominous clang.

Before anyone could get out, a woman walked up to the unknown man. Ianto's heart sank; it was Cooper. She looked into the back of the SUV; she made a noise as she stared at the three in the back seat. "Bloody hell!"

"He was dead!" Johnny said before she could say anything else. "What'm I supposed to tell Rhi?"

"Nothing until we know for sure what we're dealing with," she said almost absently. Then, when Johnny started to protest, she turned to him and snapped, "I've dealt with several different kinds of aliens that take the form of people who've died. We're being careful, and Rhi doesn't need to know anything until we're sure."

"So, what does mean for us?" Owen asked as he was let out of the SUV.

"We run tests," Cooper said. Neither her voice nor her face showed any emotion, which was especially frightening coming from her. "As long as you don't make trouble, you'll be fine." She looked at Tosh's pregnant belly. "How far along?"

"Just under seven months," Tosh said, her voice faint as her arms circled her belly in protection.

"Let us know if you need anything," Cooper said. There was an expression on her face now, but Ianto couldn't begin to read it.

"Not to sit in a cold, mouldy cell while you decide what to do with us," Owen said.

"It's a good thing we don't have any cold, mouldy cells then, isn't it?" Cooper shot back. "What about you? Aren't you going to say anything?"

Ianto stared at her in shock. Ever since Lisa, Cooper barely acknowledged his existence, let alone asked him a question. "Nothing to say," he finally said. "Don't reckon you'd believe the truth, at least not without checking it. Don't want to cause more trouble."

"There's a first," Johnny muttered.

Ianto glared at him. Johnny had no idea what the last three years had been like. "Not really."

When Johnny opened his mouth to say something else, Cooper sighed. "Andy, they're cooperating and you said you checked them for weapons. I can get them down to Amy; why don't you go show Johnny the procedures for handling possible shape shifters. Give special attention to the section on those that take on familiar forms." Johnny and the other man, Andy, walked off with Johnny glancing over his shoulder at Ianto.

Cooper walked them into a white-tiled room with an autopsy table and an examining table in the centre, the walls covered with cabinets that Ianto guessed would have various medical tools and such. With the exception of the examining table, and that it had walls, it didn't look that different from theirs. Ianto looked up and saw that the walls didn't reach the ceiling. Instead there were offices and work areas, with a railing walling off the medical area. "Amy, we need a full analysis on these three. Among other things, you have to check their DNA against three previous Torchwood employees: Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato and Ianto Jones." Cooper's voice wobbled a little as she recited the names.

"Why do I have to check DNA samples?" a woman asked as she turned from one of the cabinets. She was tall, blonde and shapely, but her expression was angry.

"Because they're all dead," Cooper snapped. "And because I gave you an order."

Amy took several different types of samples from each of them. She didn't seem to be trying to hurt, but there was no bedside manner whatsoever. Owen at his least sympathetic was gentler than her. "I'm done."

Cooper's eyebrows raised. "That's it?"

Amy pulled off her gloves. "Yeah. And you know what else? I quit."

"You know what that means?" Cooper asked, her face hard.

"There's nothing of these last three months I want to remember," Amy screamed. "I'm a doctor, not a vet, not a tech, and nobody's servant! Give me your retcon. Please."

Cooper touched her comm unit. "Johnny, can you please come to medical?" Johnny showed up quickly. She pulled a medicine phial from her pocket. "Take Amy and this and set her up. Retcon retirement, three months. Do you need help?" When Johnny nodded, she smiled at him. "OK. Ask Lois; she's still here."

"About . . ."

"Results won't be back until tomorrow, and I'm not trying to make a decision without them. Nothing to Rhi until I clear it, understand?"

Johnny nodded and followed Amy out. Cooper watched them leave and said something under her breath that Ianto couldn't hear. "You lot, come with me." She seemed mostly tired. Andy had returned and they walked Ianto, Tosh and Owen down a dark hall and through a locked cell door. "Until we're sure what's going on, we can't just let you free," she said.

"Why don't you ask us?" Owen asked, his temper clearly gone.

"Until I have those results," Cooper said, not turning around, "I'm not chasing my tail. I'll give you a choice. All together or separate."

"Together, please," Tosh said, timidly.

Cooper nodded and led them to a windowless door near the end of the hall. She opened it by placing her hand against the wall. The door slid into the wall and Cooper led them in.

It might be a prison, Ianto thought, but it was more like house arrest. There were three rooms: a bedroom with four single beds, a sitting room with a couch and a motley collection of chairs, and a bathroom. All three rooms were plain, the furniture clearly hand-me-downs, but it would be much more comfortable than the cell he'd been expecting.

"Posh," Owen said, looking around.

"So far," Cooper said, not looking at any of them, "the only thing any of you've done wrong is to hack into our servers. I'm not making any decisions until I have all the facts, and," she gave Tosh's belly a quick look, "there's no reason to make you uncomfortable." She turned and glared at them. "Yet."

"There's a button here that's an intercom," Andy said as he put his hand on Gwen's shoulder. "If you need anything, you can ask." They left, the door closing and snicking shut behind them. Ianto placed his hand on it. No shocks, but no purchase for it to move either.

"Anyone else get the sense that Cooper wanted to join in with Johnny and just welcome us back?" Owen said.

"Do we know if we were here?" Ianto asked, wishing they'd been able to tell him what they'd found before.

"Yes," Tosh answered, sitting down. "Oh, this sofa is worse than the one in the Hub," she groaned. "All three of us had counterparts in this universe. That was within the parameters of my program as long as those counterparts are dead, which they are. Owen's and my counterparts died on the same day a couple of years ago and Ianto, yours died a year ago tomorrow."

"And Cooper's acting like she's mourning," Owen said. That agreed with Ianto's observations, but it was surprising all the same. "She's following procedure. Now, who's this Johnny bloke?"

Ianto looked at his shoes. "My brother-in-law," he said. He closed his eyes waiting for the questions.

"So, this Rhiannon he keeps talking about, she's your sister?" Tosh asked gently. When Ianto nodded, she asked, "When was the last time you've seen them? You've never talked about them."

"About three weeks before Lisa . . . When Harkness gave me the option of living, he told me he'd already had me declared dead and that that wouldn't change. My leaving them doesn't change anything." He could feel the tears gathering behind his eyelashes and blinked them away. Harkness had been brutally clear: his family had been told he died of a drug overdose, and if Ianto ever tried to connect with them, they'd all die. Ianto had believed him and had never tried. He'd kept track of them, during long nights alone in the Hub, hacking into the databases and finding anything on them. Harkness knew, he had to, but he hadn't stopped him. Ianto was never sure if that was mercy or more punishment. So dangerously close.

Tosh threw her arms around Ianto, sniffling. "Oh, Ianto, I'm so sorry!"

After a minute, Owen snapped, "Stop snivelling, you two." He thrust a handkerchief at Tosh and a box of tissues at Ianto. "Look, their tests will show we are who we say we are, we can explain how we got here, explain why we're here, leaving our Cooper out of it, and go on our merry ways. Ianto, I think we can just let you sleep for the rest of the night. Tosh, you need to drink some water and get some sleep yourself. Morning'll be here soon."

"What do you know?" Ianto said as he walked to the bedroom. "You're developing a bedside manner.

They were all three awake when the door opened the next morning. Andy from last night walked in, his gun up, followed by a tall black man, also armed and seemed much more comfortable with it than Andy. "Right," Andy said when the door had closed again. "Here's what's going to happen. No one was pleased with the tests done last night, so Dr. Smith-Jones is going to run some more and we're going to be asking some questions. If you don't do anything stupid, there won't be any problems. We're going to go one at a time today," the black man rolled his eyes, "and the doctor has asked for Ms. Sato to be first." He extended his hand to Tosh.

"It's Mrs. Harper," she snapped.

"OK," Andy said easily. "Then Mrs. Harper will be first."

"And I'm coming with her," Owen said, charging to her side.

"No, you're not," the black man said. Unlike all the Welsh accents they'd heard so far, this man's accent was pure London, and rougher than Owen's. When Owen started to argue, he held his hand up. "Look, mate, I get you want to make sure your wife's safe; I get that. However, my priority's my wife's, so you stay here until I tell you otherwise; got it?" He went on in a gentler tone, "One of the reasons she wants to do more tests is she wants to make sure the baby's all right; see if the little guy needs anything he's not getting. Or do you know, boy or girl?"

"We want to be surprised," Tosh answered at her most prim.

The black man grinned. "Cool. I always assume they're boys then. Too many women ordering me around."

"And yet, you willingly work for Cooper," Owen said.

He frowned for a minute, but then his face cleared. "Nah, I don't work for Gwen; we're freelance. She was in a bit of a bind and asked for our help." He shrugged. "She's good people; I don't mind." He holstered his gun, giving Andy a look that said his had better stay out, and offered his arm to Tosh. "Mrs. Harper, your doctor awaits."

"He sure does," Owen muttered.

The black man laughed. "You're a doctor, huh? Good to know." He led Tosh out of the rooms, Andy behind him. The doors' closing was much louder this morning.

"Should I have pushed it?" Owen asked looking at the door as if he could see Tosh through it.

"Only if you wanted to be shot," Ianto answered. "They're not acting like they're going to do anything. I think we're safer if we cooperate."

"You usually do," Owen muttered, but sat down on the couch to wait.

After looking around for something to read, and coming up with nothing, Ianto joined him.

"Truth or Dare?" Owen asked.

"You wish," Ianto said.

They were well into round whatever of "Who Was Worse as a Kid?" when the door opened. The black man wasn't here this time, just Andy, who looked much more relaxed. His gun was holstered.

He led Tosh in, who smiled at Owen and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Ianto cat-called, which got a grin from Andy. "You're next, Dr. Harper," Andy said to Owen. Then, hitting his comm, he said, "Unless you've changed your mind again." Apparently not, because he gestured to Owen.

"It's all right," Tosh said. "At this point, it's just dotting the i's and crossing the t's. Just go along."

Owen looked sceptical, but left.

Ianto looked at Tosh, who was practically bouncing, a huge smile on her face. "I wish we'd done this six months ago," she said.

"So," Ianto said, looking for actual information, "what did you learn?"

"I don't have all the details straight yet," she said, sitting down on the couch and patting the cushion next to her for Ianto. "First, Gwen, she doesn't want to be called Cooper, is married, and not to Harkness. Do you remember that man she was seeing when she first started with us?"

"Yeah," Ianto said, "Rhys Williams. She threw him over almost immediately."

"Not here," Tosh said. "They're married, they have a baby girl, and she just found out she's pregnant again. The doctor who's checking us over today doesn't actually work for Torchwood; she and her husband are free-lance, but she's a friend of Gwen's, so she's helping out. She's pregnant, too. One of the reasons I was gone so long is that we were all sharing stories." She patted Ianto's arm. "It's going to be all right. Oh, Johnny. When your counterpart was killed, about a year ago, Gwen told them what you'd been doing, where you'd been working. Harkness didn't fake your death in this world; your counterpart had a four-week suspension and that was it. Anyway, after all the fuss died down about the aliens who killed you, it was another "hallucinogens in the water" again, it's amazing people still buy it, Johnny asked Gwen for a job, which she gave him. Rhiannon can't because of the kids, but she's around. So's Rhys. Gwen doesn't believe in not telling families, just in being sensible and discreet. And they're not letting Johnny go home because Rhiannon will take one look at him and know there's something wrong and he'll tell her whatever she asks."

Ianto interrupted her. "Tosh, breathe." She grinned and he asked, "So, assuming nothing happens, we're going to be free?"

Tosh nodded. "Yes. Although I think Gwen may try to hire us. She can't keep a doctor and she hasn't been able to find a decent tech. Not one that can cope with Torchwood weirdness anyway." She smiled. "Ianto, we're going to be all right."

Thinking that things rarely went that well for him, Ianto asked, "What about Harkness?"

"From what the others have said, he seems nicer here, too, but it's hard to tell, really, without meeting him." Tosh thought for a minute. "According to Gwen, you and he were lovers. Not like you and Harkness," she added quickly, "but as a couple. Anyway, after your counterpart died, and there was another death that she wouldn't talk about, this world's Harkness left Earth. Gwen and Martha were talking about trying to get in touch with him; I've actually got an idea or two about that myself." She kept chattering; Ianto let most of it wash over him. He'd heard the most important piece: once they were through this, he was free. Really, truly free. And he could see his family again.

Owen was gone for almost twice as long as Tosh was, and the black man didn't bring him down with him. "C'mon you two," he said, opening the door, "you may as well come up. Martha and Owen are having this big conference over somethin'; I didn't think you needed any more suspense."

"Thanks, Mickey," Tosh said. "Oh, Ianto, I'm sorry. I forgot. This is Mickey Smith; he's Martha's husband. I told you they work free-lance, didn't I?"

Ianto nodded, while Mickey said, "May come here for a while, just until the baby's born. We're talking about it."

Ianto was able to pay more attention to where they were going today, but the lighting was inconsistent and it wasn't easy to keep track of where they were. When they came out into the medical area, Ianto was relieved. From here, he knew where the exit was.

Owen and Martha looked up when Ianto, Tosh and Mickey entered the medical area. "Ianto, get down here," Owen ordered. "Everybody else, out. Tosh, go put your feet up and have something to drink. A little snack wouldn't be bad." Once the others had left, Owen said, "Strip." Ianto started to protest, but Owen stopped him. "I've had to treat you with limited resources for years. Today, we're doing it right."

With that, Ianto knew he'd have to escape to get out of it. He sighed and started stripping off. Martha turned around and started putting together some equipment to give him a little privacy. Once he was down to his pants, he went to sit up on the table. Owen shook his head. "All the way," he said quietly. "And don't start with, 'I'm OK'; I'm the doctor, not you." Ianto gave up, took his pants off, and lay down on the examining table.

Owen and Martha discussed the results they were seeing in quiet, highly technical terms. If Ianto had wanted to understand them, he was pretty sure he could, but it was nice to just drowse. A little bit later, Owen shook his shoulder a little.

"You're good to go," Martha said, when Ianto had opened his eyes. "You need some serious rest and to put some meat on these bones, but otherwise, you're healthy. So, get dressed and come up to the main area." She gave Owen an impish grin and left.

While Ianto got dressed, Owen cleaned up. "Martha won't say anything, patient-doctor confidentiality and all, but I really did want to do some checks and Gwen insisted that Martha be the one to clear you." He shook his head and grinned. "And you want to wait until somebody comes to get us, because Gwen's trying to explain what happened to Rhiannon and they didn't want you there for that."

Ianto thought about it and decided that made sense. "Yeah, Rhiannon'd be spending as much time hitting me and yelling at me for not telling her what I do and all. This way, she's got a chance of remembering it all."

Ianto was dressed and helping Owen straighten up when Andy came down. "C'mon. Someone wants to see you."

He was led into an office, but he didn't notice the details. As soon as he walked in the door, Rhiannon squealed and grabbed him into a big hug. "You daft sod," she said, sobbing into his shoulder.

Ianto pulled her back and looked her in the eyes. "I'm not your brother," he said. "He's gone. I'm like a copy from another universe."

"I know," Rhiannon said, sniffing, "but you're my brother in another universe, yeah? Tosh here says your sister there already thinks you're dead, so I can adopt you. I miss him. I didn't see him much since he left home, but I _miss_ the daft sod."

Ianto pulled her back into the hug, taking in her scent, and feeling the knots in his stomach finally unknot. He could call this universe home, honestly, with no more stains on his soul.

When Ianto and Rhiannon finally pulled themselves together, they found themselves alone in the office. Before Ianto could say anything, Rhi smacked him on the shoulder. "Are you still telling people Dad's a tailor?"

He shrugged. "Not really talked about him for a while. Hurts too much, y'know?"

Before she could say anything, he heard a soft knock at the door. Gwen peeked in, a smile on her face. "Hey, there, you two doing all right? We need to do a debriefing when you're ready."

Taking a deep breath, Ianto asked, "And what happens then?"

Gwen shrugged. "Whatever you want." Then she cocked her head to the side and said, "Well, as long as it's not illegal or breaking the Official Secrets Act or something." She smiled, her eyes bright. "I think I heard something about feeding you up right, over at Johnny and Rhi's."

"Let's get it done," Ianto said. He couldn't believe how tired he was; he'd had more sleep last night than he usually did, but he wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed. "I think I'm having obscene fantasies about your couch, Rhi."

Rhi hit his shoulder for that, but both she and Gwen were giggling.

Ianto and Rhiannon followed Gwen to the briefing room, where the others were already congregated. "All right, everyone," Gwen said, "let's sit down and talk. And I think you lot should start."

"Simple enough," Owen said. "We wanted to start a new life, but Harkness would've Retconned me and he wouldn't let Tosh or Ianto go. He'd have killed them first. So, Tosh figured out how to use the Rift to move to a different universe. We set the parameters for a universe similar to ours, but in which we didn't have living counterparts. And here we are."

"Why wouldn't we have let Tosh and Ianto go but he would you?" Gwen asked, looking puzzled. "For that matter, what did my double in your universe have to say about it?"

"Nothing," Ianto said with a sneer. "She hates all of us. As for why she wouldn't let Tosh or I go, the contracts of course."

"What contracts?" Johnny asked. "Y'mean, like I signed."

Ianto shook his head, but continued, staring down at the table. He really hadn't wanted to explain this. "I don't know about here, but-- Did the Cybermen try to invade and destroy Canary Wharf in the process?"

"Yeah," Mickey answered. "It was nasty; almost everybody died."

"Ianto was one of twenty-seven survivors," Gwen said. "If this is about Lisa--"

"Yeah," Ianto said. He closed his eyes as he continued, "She'd been taken and was on one of their conversion units. They'd started the process. Then everything stopped. I got her off and got her out. Convinced Harkness to give me a job. Installed her at the Hub. Got Dr. Tanizaki to save her."

"Much the same happened here," Gwen said. Ianto looked up, surprised; in his world, Cooper had never forgiven him for Lisa trapping her in the conversion unit. Gwen, though, sounded understanding.

After meeting Gwen's eyes for a moment, Ianto looked back down at the table, too ashamed to look at anyone else. "After, Harkness gave me two choices. He could execute me, or I could accept a special Torchwood contract." He sighed, steeling himself for what he had to say next. "A slave contract. I agreed to do whatever the Director of Torchwood Three wants. He'd already had me declared dead, but I wasn't ready to die. So, I agreed. Not so sure I made the right decision."

"You did," Tosh said, putting her hand on Ianto's. "You're still alive, and look where we are now."

"Well, whatever was done in your universe, it's done here." Gwen's voice was firm. When Ianto glanced up, she looked horrified. "I'll have none of that kind of contract here." She looked at Tosh. "I'm guessing he had the same kind of contract with you? To get you out of the UNIT prison?"

Tosh nodded, when Martha yelped. "What UNIT prison?"

"Tell you later," Gwen said, looking at Tosh and Ianto. "Our Tosh had a similar contract, but it had expired before she died. So, you're both free. And you," she said looking at Owen, "are here because you're with Tosh."

"Yeah," Owen said, "but the real question is what are you going to do with us now?"

Gwen tapped her comm. "Lois, bring them in."

Several minutes later, a young black woman walked in carrying several file folders, one of which she put down in front of Owen, Tosh and Ianto. Ianto opened his and found an offer of employment. He looked it over in shock; it was a standard contract with a salary much higher than his had been before. He looked up, startled, to see Tosh and Owen looking over their folders. Tosh's expression was blank, but a sly smirk was gradually spreading across Owen's face. Ianto wanted to laugh at him, but he managed to keep his expression neutral.

"I know it's still pretty early," he said when neither of his friends showed any signs of saying anything, too busy exchanging their folders, "but it's been a long few days and I'm tired. Can I think about this?"

Owen started to say something, but snapped his mouth shut and nodded instead.

A smile spread across Gwen's face, the one which captivated people, even the ones who knew better. "I don't blame you a bit," she said. She nodded at Lois who handed around a second group of folders. "I will need you to sign these before I can let you out of the Hub."

Within Ianto's was a paper acknowledging that all of his knowledge about Torchwood fell under the Official Secrets Act and that he would be liable to civil and criminal penalties if he broke any of its provisions. He signed it with a flourish and slid it down the table to her. Owen and Tosh were doing the same.

"Well," Gwen clapped her hands together, looking as pleased as if all three of them had agreed to the contracts at half pay, "I suppose we'll give Johnny the day off so you lot can have a family day. Owen, Tosh, have you thought about where you'll be staying, or would you like some help there."

"How annoyed is the hotel at us?" Owen asked.

"Shouldn't be at all," Andy answered with a shrug. "We didn't destroy anything and taking you lot didn't even look much like an arrest. You'd paid for three days, so you still have two more nights. Want a lift?"

Before Owen could say anything, probably to decline, Tosh smiled at Andy. "That would be lovely, thank you."

"So," Mickey said, looking disappointed, "we're not resolving anything? Martha--"

"Job offers take time to consider," Gwen said, steel in her voice. "I'd appreciate you and Martha sticking around for a bit, but if you're that anxious to leave, you're more than welcome."

"No," Mickey said, wincing at the cold of Gwen's voice, "I just meant that I don't want her going out in the field, any more than you or Mrs. Harper here."

Gwen relaxed. "We'll work something out, Mickey. Somehow, we always manage to." She turned to Owen, "Go on, you lot go, get some rest, do some talking. Can I have an answer within three days?"

The three of them exchanged a look. Owen answered for all three of them. "Yeah, we should be able to manage that." He stood and helped Tosh to stand while Rhi grabbed Ianto's arm and started to drag him out. To Ianto's amusement, she had them out of the Hub and into their car within minutes. He recognized by their route that they were heading to Cromwell Estates and shrugged inwardly. Somehow, getting away from them just didn't seem to matter as much anymore.

***

After a quiet ride home, there was a bit of excitement as they went into Rhi and Johnny's flat. One of their neighbours, someone Ianto knew but couldn't quite remember, saw him and started asking excitedly about how he could be dead and come back to life. Johnny sent Ianto in with Rhi and went up to talk with him. "I'll need a cover story to cover the last year," Ianto said, wondering how many people needed to know. In his universe, almost no one knew him outside of Torchwood, but here, it seemed, people had still known him, had still--

"Don't worry about it," Rhi said. "Now, take your shoes off and go lie down. I'll fix you some tea and something to eat and you can just take it easy." Ianto lay down and promptly feel asleep.

He woke and flinched as he opened his eyes. Two small children, larger than he remembered them, were sitting on the floor by the sofa staring at him. "Are you really from another universe?" Mica asked.

"Er, yeah," Ianto answered, trying to figure out how to explain it.

Before he could, David said, "Wicked!" and proceeded to describe all the different alternate universes in all the different telly programs and video stories that he knew. Apparently, all they needed to know was "alternate universe" and they were fine.

"What was different?" Mica asked when David had run down. Or not, because Ianto had no idea how to answer that.

He was rescued by Rhi, who was bringing in tea and sandwiches. "You two'd better not've woken him up. Don't pester him; he's tired."

"Was it hard, coming here?" David asked immediately.

"Not really," Ianto started to answer as Mica asked, "What did I look like over there?" Ianto managed not to say, "Much younger".

Fortunately, Rhi was able to shoo them away. "They're so excited; they'd do nothing but ask you questions if I let them. Now, how are you feeling?"

"Bit tired still," he answered, taking the first sandwich and eating. It tasted so good. "Overwhelmed." Then the real answer hit him. "Happy. For the first time in literally years, I'm happy." He leaned over and put his head on her shoulder. Then he remembered something. Refusing to sit up, he asked, "What did Johnny say?"

"You work for a super secret government agency, sh, don't tell anyone," Rhi said grinning. "Don't worry, that's been known for a year now." Her voice broke on the last word. "Sorry, sorry, I just--"

"It's okay," Ianto answered. "I'm not him; I'm just his stunt double."

As he'd hoped, she laughed at that. "You," she said, hitting him on the shoulder. "They told us you were dead, even gave us an empty coffin, which is true by the way, standard Torchwood procedure, but really you'd been exposed to some weird virus or something and have been in a coma. You just regained consciousness recently, Johnny was vague about that, and are now well enough to send home."

"Just enough truth that it doesn't matter if you slip," Ianto acknowledged. "When did Johnny start working for Torchwood? And why?" Realizing that the kids were still listening, "Should they be listening?"

"They know," Rhi said, smiling at Mica and ruffling her hand through David's hair. "They also know not to talk about it. He started about a month after you, I mean my Ianto, died. Gwen was trying to put things together but she couldn't do it alone. She hired Andy almost immediately, they were partners when she was a police constable, but they needed more help. She mentioned it to me, I mentioned it to Johnny and he decided it was a good job." She took a deep breath. "I live in absolute terror while he's gone, but it's important work that needs doing. And Gwen likes to keep things 'in the family', so to speak."

Shaking his head, Ianto said, "She's so different from the Gwen Cooper in my universe, and then she'll do something that's exactly the same. It's weird."

"Eat your sandwiches," she told him, and he did. She might not really be his sister and he might not really be her brother, but it was close enough.

***

It was almost eleven when Ianto woke up the next morning. He started out of bed and rushed to get dressed, hoping he wasn't in too much trouble. When he pulled out the bread to make toast, Rhi stopped him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm late," he said. He'd lived at the Hub for so long and he hadn't had a lie-in for even longer. If he did manage to sleep through his alarm, which was rare, Harkness would wake him up, usually by dumping him out of bed. Cooper was going to be even worse: Harkness was just cruel, Cooper was vindictive.

"Late to what?" Rhi pulled the bread out of his hand. "Can't be work; you haven't signed the contract yet, and I told Gwen this morning that you weren't even to think about it today."

Ianto goggled at her.

"What?" she asked, sounding irritated. "Johnny got some of the story from Mickey last night during a Weevil hunt. You've been through hell and you're taking some time to recover."

"What did she say?" he asked, cringing and hating himself for it.

"That she'd like an answer sooner rather than later, but there was no reason you couldn't take a holiday before starting. Now, sit down and I'll make you a proper lunch."

Rhi wouldn't let him go back to work for a week. He called Gwen the next day to tell her he was coming back; Gwen told him to come back when he was ready and to give David and Mica hugs. One night over fish and chips, he told them, "About the only thing the other universe had going for it is that Owen, Tosh and I were alive."

Gwen had wanted him to take two weeks, although Johnny admitted that she was hoping he'd be back sooner. Owen wanted him to take a month, and Martha agreed and wanted to sign off on a medical leave, but Ianto talked them out of it. He appreciated the thought, but a week with nothing to do but straighten Rhi's flat, which was an impossible task, was more than enough.

Owen and Tosh had signed their contracts the day after they'd arrived. Owen had bullied Tosh into taking a week off, but Andy got covered in something that they were pretty sure would cause a miscarriage if a woman in her first trimester was exposed to it. So, Owen went back to work to treat Andy and stayed to clean up the mess that the three doctors they'd run through had left. This Torchwood didn't allow pregnant operatives into the field, so Tosh was safe. "Unless something gets into the Hub; then all bets are off," she laughed the afternoon before they went back, sitting in Rhi's flat watching the kids. "We're looking for a new flat; someone else has our old one. I think we might buy a house instead."

The second Ianto walked into the Hub for his first day of work, Gwen stopped him at the door. "I never asked," she said, looking anxious. "You do make coffee, don't you?"

"Yes," he admitted, "but not for pregnant women." He'd had that argument with Tosh and Owen backed him up on it.

"Oh," she said, her shoulders slumping. "Damn. I was looking forward to some of your coffee. Before you do anything else, there's someone you have to talk to in there." She nodded toward her office.

Not thinking much about it, Ianto went in, to see Captain Jack Harkness slouched against the wall.

Heart sinking, Ianto closed his eyes and tipped his head toward the floor, submitting to him as he'd been doing ever since he'd been let out of the cell after Lisa died. "Sir," he said.

The other man sighed. "I told Gwen this was a bad idea, but she refused to listen." When Ianto glanced up, Harkness smiled at him. "Relax. I'm not the man you knew. This is so strange, and for me that's saying something."

"Why are you here then?" Ianto asked. He could hear the hurt and fear in his voice.

"Because as much as I love her, Gwen has some amazing blind spots, and you're standing right in the middle of one."

Ianto stared at him. Harkness was smiling, not his movie star smile but the one he used with those he cared for. It hadn't been aimed at Ianto since Lisa had died; he was shocked at how warm it made him feel. "What's that?" he asked.

Harkness took a deep breath. "Gwen is one of the most stubborn people I know," he said. "Usually that's a good thing, but in this case it's working against you. You see, we had a team. Five of us and we were practically a family. As far as Gwen was concerned, once Rhys knew about us, it was even more so. She liked it that way. Well, we all did. Because of the work we do, it fell apart. First Owen, then Toshiko, then Ianto, our Ianto. Then I left, which she may never forgive me for." Harkness stood and walked to stand behind the desk, picking up a framed photograph. "Then she found out she was pregnant again, and Martha got pregnant, so she could hope to pull her in permanently, but the grand prize came when you three came through the rift. She has her family back." He shrugged. "Even better, because Owen's not the walking dead--"

"What?"

Harkness laughed. "That's quite the story; I'll tell you about some time if you don't just read it in the archives. Anyway, Owen's alive, he and Toshiko are married, they're going to have a baby, you're alive and getting closer to your sister. The only thing that would make her life perfect is to get you and I back together." Before Ianto's stomach could really start churning, Harkness said, "Don't worry. You're safe; I won't."

"Why not?" Not that he wanted the other man, but he did have his pride.

The smile Jack gave him was affectionate. "It's nothing to do with you. When Ianto, my Ianto, was dying," his voice broke on the word, "I promised him I wouldn't forget him. And it seems to me that one of the easiest ways to do that is to get him mixed up with you. You look alike, sound alike, probably smell, taste and feel alike and that would be too confusing. I can't do that to him." Jack took a deep breath, then a second one but still couldn't seem to say any more.

Feeling completely safe, Ianto walked over and put his hand on the other man's arm. "We can be friends, yeah?"

"Yeah, we can be friends." With a shock, Ianto realized that Jack's eyes were full of tears. The other man blinked them away and pulled Ianto in for a hug. When he kissed Ianto's forehead, Ianto knew he really did have a new start.

1/31/10


End file.
